My Boys
by Wendy Parkinson
Summary: Ruby reminisces


Title: My Boys  
Author: Wendy Parkinson  
Email: wendyparkinson@hotmail.com  
Category: Gen  
Spoilers: Shuttlepod One  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Ruby reminisces  
Archive: I'll almost certainly say yes, but ask first please.  
Date: 27th April 2002  
  
Disclaimer: Enterprise and its characters belong to Paramount. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.  
  
All feedback and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. No flames please.  
  
copyright Wendy Parkinson April 2002  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
MY BOYS  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I saw their picture in the paper with the rest of the Enterprise crew. My boys. A few more smile lines round the eyes but still unmistakably my boys. And standing next to each other too. It brought a smile to my face knowing they were finally doing what they really wanted.... which was something they wanted far more than they ever wanted me.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Charles Tucker III walked into the club and into my life one wet afternoon in September. I saw him before he saw me, that Southern charm coming off him in waves as he brushed the raindrops off his coat and looked round the club. Then he spotted me, called me over, said, "Darlin', any chance of a beer?" and melted my heart. We started dating the next day.  
  
He took me to a movie, then drove me home. When I asked him in he said, "I don't think so, darlin', I'm not sure if I'd be the gentleman I'd like to be if I did that." If I hadn't already, that was when I knew I was falling for him. He leant over slowly and brushed my lips with his. I remember sighing and being cut off by him tangling his fingers in my hair and deepening the kiss. He walked me to my door, kissed me on the cheek and said, "Good night." I watched him leave, his blond hair reflecting in the light from the street lamps as he walked back to his car, and wanted to pinch myself. I couldn't believe someone like him was interested in someone like me.  
  
It was a misty autumn night when we first made love. He brought me home and when I asked him to come in, he kissed me gently and said, "Are you sure?" I nodded. I was sure... I knew I loved him with every fibre of my being. When we got inside, he carefully undressed me and laid me down on the bed, then made slow, gentle love to me. I felt like I was floating on air for weeks. We spent every available moment together, I guess we had what you would call a whirlwind romance, within three months we were engaged and planning our future.  
  
Trip was a romantic; sentimental at heart, always buying my little presents and flowers. Looking back, I think he was more in love with the idea of being in love than he was with me, but I didn't see that at the time. We threw ourselves wholeheartedly into wedding plans; we'd decided we wanted three kids, picked out the drapes and the furniture, then he dropped the bombshell... he'd volunteered for the first deep space program. He'd have to go to Utopia Planetia until the ship was ready, which was likely to take years, then he'd be off exploring the galaxy while I stayed home with the kids we'd planned. I said I wouldn't marry him under those conditions, I didn't want a part time husband and father to my children. I know it broke his heart and mine, but it was for the best, I know it was.  
  
And now he's out there... where no man has gone before. I wish him well.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Malcolm went through his training a couple of years after Trip. I can't help wondering if they're friends. I really hope they are but they were such polar opposites I can see they could annoy the hell out of each other. But I fell hook, line and sinker for both of them so they must have some similarities somewhere.   
  
With Malcolm what first attracted me were his eyes. It felt like he was looking into my soul... and his accent... well, that sent shivers up my spine the first time he spoke to me and if I spoke to him now I'm sure the shivers would be back all over again. The first night I met him he offered to take me home. As soon as we got outside the club, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. That was when I knew I was going to have a good time... I felt it from the tips of my toes to the roots of my hair. He took me home and didn't hesitate to say yes when I invited him in. We were clawing at each other's clothes before I managed to close the door and just got as far as the sofa before we made love, then we adjourned to the bedroom for the rest of the night. I'd never experienced anything like it before or since.  
  
I know it's difficult to believe with that frosty British exterior, but Malcolm was a much more physical guy than Trip. Our relationship was based solely on sex and mind-blowing sex at that. We spent more time in bed than anywhere else, but what could I expect? He was a well educated officer with Starfleet and I was a dumb waitress with a string of failed relationships.   
  
With Malcolm there was never a commitment, never any words of love. I knew I'd fallen for him big time but I didn't say anything because I knew it'd scare him off. He said he wanted some fun and we certainly had that until he got posted to Utopia Planetia. He wrote once from the construction yards, saying he was enjoying his job and thanking me for the good times.  
  
He was always polite, even when throwing me over.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
You always remember your first with special affection, I know I do. I was seventeen, still wet behind the ears and I'd only been working at the 602 club for a week when he walked in with a bunch of other trainees but he caught my eye instantly. Green eyes, broad shoulders and a sense of fun nothing seemed to extinguish. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He took to coming into the club a few times a week, and one of the other waitresses told me he was Jonathan Archer, the son of the founder of the warp project and way out of my league, but I still harboured fantasies about him even though we only ever exchanged a few words.  
  
The turning point came when I accidentally tipped a trayful of beers over him. I'd been walking past his table and looking at him, instead of at where I was going when I tripped and the next thing I knew, four glasses of beer were sitting in his lap. My boss rushed over and sacked me on the spot but Jonathan rescued me. He said it was his fault I'd dropped the tray and offered to pay for the wasted beers as well. After that, my boss couldn't sack me after all. Later that evening I thanked Jonathan for what he'd done and tried to give him the money for the beers. He refused to take it.  
  
After that, we became friends, chatting whenever he came into the club but never going any further until the night he told me he was leaving to help his father with the warp drive project. He asked if he could meet me after I finished at the club. Naturally, I agreed.  
  
That night he took me to the beach and we walked for miles, accompanied only by the crash of the waves. He talked of his dreams for the future, how he wanted to explore space and see things no-one had ever seen before and how he was worried about his father's health. I'm not sure when it happened but suddenly I realised he had his arm round me, then I noticed we were alone under the stars. He turned to me and said quietly, "Ruby, I want to make love to you." I must have looked shocked because he carried on, "I never made a move because I always knew I'd be leaving soon but before I went... I wasn't going to say anything, but you look so beautiful in the moonlight... I had to just ask... I know you're going to say no... no, just forget I asked." He looked embarrassed and turned away from me, then muttered, "What sort of girl would want a one night stand with me?"  
  
I took hold of his hands, turning him to face me, and whispered, "Me," and kissed him gently on the lips.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I look again at the grainy newspaper photograph and wonder what they're like now. Are any of them married? Are they dating? What do they think of the Vulcan science officer? I'm pretty sure they'll appreciate her aesthetic qualities, if nothing else. Do they like and respect each other? I do hope they're friends.  
  
And I wonder if they know what they have in common?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


End file.
